Welcome to Year 4
Dear Parents and Carers of Ithaca Class,
This week we have been powering through our rich curriculum. In Art, the children have begun to create some prehistoric pieces by creating a textured background and scaling up a British animal that they had drawn in a previous lesson. It was very delightful to see the pieces they were all creating and the pride they all had in showing their work.
Please can we continue to give a gentle reminder to all our learners: staying focused during lessons helps us make the most of our rich and exciting curriculum. Working as a team and supporting one another is key to our success.
✍️ In English, we have started our new unit on persuasive writing and the children took part in a class debate. They all participated and really engaged with listening to each other. We will be continuing this through next week. Please encourage the children to try and persuade you of something over the weekend
Can we also say a massive well done to all the children for our graphic novel unit – writing to entertain. They created some really engaging pieces and took a real sense of pride in their work. We think we may have some budding authors and illustrators on our hands.
Wishing you all a restful and enjoyable weekend. We look forward to another great week ahead!
Warm regards,
Mrs Durrant, Mrs Banitsiotis & Miss Neto
Dear Parents and Carers of Ithaca Class,
This week we have come to an end with our graphic novel unit, it was been a pleasure to read all of the different scenes the children have come up with. We have many budding authors amongst us. There has been a real sense of pride and commitment to the plans created and dedication to complete the final product. They should all be very proud of all they have done.
In maths we are still on our place value unit and have explored Roman Numerals and rounding. They should all continue to practise their times tables as this will help them.
Wishing you all a restful and enjoyable weekend. We look forward to another great week ahead!
Warm regards,
Mrs Durrant, Mrs Banitsiotis & Miss Neto
Home learning 26.09.25-01.10.25
Dear Parents and Carers of Ithaca Class,
We’ve had a wonderfully productive end to the week in class! However, a gentle reminder to all our learners: staying focused during lessons helps us make the most of our rich and exciting curriculum. Working as a team and supporting one another is key to our success.
📌 PE Days: Please remember that PE takes place on Mondays and Thursdays. Children should come to school in their PE kits on these days.
Homework is also due on Wednesdays.
🧮 Maths: We’ve been continuing our work on place value, and next week we’ll be moving on to comparing numbers, rounding, and exploring Roman numerals. It would be fantastic if the children could come in on Monday having practised or learned at least one Roman numeral over the weekend!
✍️ English: We’re diving into the exciting world of graphic novels! Next week, the children will begin creating their own scenes based on their storyboards. From what we’ve seen so far, we’re expecting some truly brilliant work. Ithaca, over the weekend, have a think about the images and language you might use to bring your stories to life.
Wishing you all a restful and enjoyable weekend. We look forward to another great week ahead!
Warm regards,
Mrs Durrant, Mrs Banitsiotis & Miss Neto
Home learning 19.09.25 – 24.09.25
Hello Ithaca Class and Parents,
I would like to firstly introduce myself. I am Mrs Durrant, the new class teacher. It has been a pleasure getting to know all of the budding characters within Ithaca class this week. We have all been settling down in our first official full week of the year. I have sent home a curriculum overview and it has an outline of our learning this term. Year 4 is the year of the times tables check and we have been practising this with games such as hit the button. PE days are Mondays and Thursdays. Can all students please remember to wear their PE kits to school. Home work will be set every Friday and due in the following Wednesday.
This week we have beginning all of our subjects. In maths we have been looking at representing numbers to 10,000 and partitioning. In English we begun our unit on writing narratives, the children were able to showcase their writing skills as we did a mock write up about a mysterious door. It has been delightful to read the exciting and spooky narratives they have all come up with. In week 2 we will continue to explore writing narratives for a graphic novel.
I will close by saying have a lovely weekend and I’ll see you all Monday morning.
Home learning 12.09.25-17.09.25
Mrs Durrant
This week in Ithaca…
In English, the children were able to draft and write by organising paragraphs around a theme. The children used their plan to write a draft, included features such as headings and subheadings, paragraphs and keywords in bold. The children considered their layout and used a pencil to lightly section the pages. The children edited their introduction paragraph and wrote the improved introduction on their double page spread. Furthermore, the children wrote the rest of the sections for their non-chronological report and used their plan to support their writing.
In Maths, the children explored line graphs. The children applied their knowledge of scales on a graph to read a line graph accurately. They learnt about continuous data, understanding that temperature can change all the time rather than be counted. The children drew their own line graphs to represent continuous data and used their knowledge of scales to accurately draw line graphs, ensuring that they label the axes correctly.
In Design and Technology, the children created a repeating pattern, identified where a pattern repeats and developed a pattern by adding extra detail. Furthermore, the children explored using a textile technique to develop patterns, discussed the work and patterns created by William Morris, created a pattern using a drawing and develop a pattern using inspiration taken from research.
In Computing, the children were able to recognise and identify basic inputs and outputs, recall that a computer follows instructions and explained what the computer is doing. Additionally, the children identified the components inside a laptop, recognised a laptop’s inputs and outputs, recalled that a laptop is made up of many parts and explained the purpose of some parts.
There is no home learning for this week.
Have a lovely weekend.
Miss Molyneux
This week in Ithaca…
In English, the children explored the purpose and audience of a core text. They were able to identify the features of a core text and the audience and purpose. The children used conjunctions, adverbs and prepositions to express time and cause and planned by discussing and recording ideas. The children used their plans to start to draft and write by organising paragraphs around a theme.
In Maths, the children interpreted and drew pictograms and bar charts to represent discrete data. The children collected and represented data in a table and used charts to compare data. The children explored which scale would be the most appropriate when drawing their own bar charts and which key would be the most appropriate for a pictogram. They gathered their own data and then presented it as bar charts and pictograms.
In Art, the children understood the starting points in a design process. They described images and objects using art vocabulary, selected images that interested them to draw, gathered images, shapes and colours together and identified a mood/theme. Additionally, the children explored techniques to develop imagery. The children were able to discuss the inspiration for an artist’s work, choose interesting sections of one picture to draw and used materials and tools to show colour and texture.
Please find the home learning attached:
Ithaca Home Learning – 04.07.25
Have a lovely weekend.
Miss Molyneux
This week in Ithaca…
In English, the children organised ideas to write an engaging paragraph. They were able to describe the setting at the start of their adventure, included a description of the main character and included action in opening. The children wrote a draft, describing the setting in more detail, included expanded noun phrases, the power of 3 and used ‘show not tell’. The children were able to evaluate the effectiveness of their writing, edited their draft and proofread in order for them to then complete a published piece of writing, presenting it in a neat manner. Furthermore, the children were able to conduct a reading session by performing their magical adventure stories to the class.
In Maths, the children were introduced to coordinate grids and began to describe the positions of points on a grid. The children learnt that the x-axis is horizontal and the y-axis is vertical. The children described the positions of points using coordinates, understanding the importance of reading from the x-axis first. The children used their understanding to plot points with given coordinates on a grid and considered which coordinate corresponds to which axis. Furthermore, the children gained more experience of reading and plotting points by drawing 2-D shapes on a coordinate grid. They used examples where three out of four vertices of a rectangle were already on a grid and considered where the fourth vertex would be. Furthermore, children described the translation that had taken place when they are given a pair of points or shapes.
In Geography, the children described the journey of a cocoa bean and mapped and calculated the distance food has travelled. The children learnt there are different opinions on importing products, recalled the locations a cocoa bean travels through to reach the UK and described the process from cocoa bean to chocolate. Furthermore, the children labelled countries on a world map using an atlas, used the scale bar on a map to calculate approximate food mileage and considered questions about where the food we eat comes from.
Please find the home learning attached:
Ithaca Home Learning – 27.06.25
Have a lovely weekend.
Miss Molyneux
This week in Ithaca…
In English, the children were able to write a narrative setting description and use the power of three to describe a character. The children added more detail by including dialogue to describe characters, used speech punctuation with accuracy and used the text and illustrations to understand the character. Furthermore, the children were able to infer who the characters were, using details from the text, used a varied and rich vocabulary bank to create a clear, well-planned setting and character.
In Maths, the children used their previous learning on estimating to estimate with money. The children made estimates for calculations by considering the number of pence represented in the amounts and how close they are to whole numbers of pounds. The children extended their learning by multiplying and dividing with money and used informal methods such as partitioning and number lines to support them when calculating with money. Furthermore, the children applied their calculating skills with money to solve problems using all four operations in real-life contexts, including multi-step problems.
In Science, the children were able to conclude and evaluate their investigation and applied careful observations to problem solve. The children described how sound travels in solids, liquids and gases, compared the properties of solids and liquids and wrote a conclusion that refers to data and evaluated the trustworthiness of a method. Moreover, the children were able to name the organs and describe the pathway through the digestive system, observed the speed of absorption of different viscosity liquids and selected the best viscosity medicine for different purposes.
Please find the home learning attached:
Ithaca Home Learning – 20.06.25
Have a lovely weekend.
Miss Molyneux
This week in Ithaca…
In English, the children were able to analyse a character, describe a character’s journey, use dialogue to add more detail and create a narrative setting. The children used the text ‘Alice’s adventures in wonderland’ to build a description of the key character, begin to understand the setting for the story and add more detail by including dialogue. The children included varied sentence openers, prepositions to add more detail and wrote engaging descriptive phrases.
In Maths, the children were introduced to decimal notation for the first time, for example £4.25. The children were able to write a given amount in decimal notation and represent amounts that are given in decimal notation. Furthermore, the children moved on from reading and writing money using decimal notation to converting between different types of notation and between different units of money.
In Science, the children planned a comparative test and gathered and were able to recorded data accurately. The children explained the term viscosity and identified and described the properties of a liquid and characteristics of insects. Furthermore, the children discussed the different variables in an investigation and were able to measure accurately in minutes.
Please find the home learning attached:
Ithaca Home Learning – 13.06.25
Have a great weekend.
Miss Molyneux
This week in Ithaca…
In English, the children explored a variety of poems by the poet Joseph Coelho. From these poem, the children were inspired to write and perform their own poem. The children performed various tongue twister poems as a group and considered why the words in tongue twisters are to be pronounced powerfully and clearly. The children wrote a kenning poem to describe themselves and created a mind map of ideas to complete the success criteria for a kenning poem. Furthermore, the children wrote a draft, edited and published their own kenning poem and orally rehearsed each kenning to ensure their poem had a good rhythm for their audience.
In Maths, the children explored the relationships between a year, a month, a week and a day. The children discussed how a year can be represented on a calendar, which shows the number of days in each month and recapped the number of seconds in a minute and minutes in an hour. The children used multiplicative reasoning and related number facts to convert and compare times recorded in hours, minutes and seconds. Furthermore, the children converted between analogue and 12-hour digital times and were introduced to writing 24-hour clock times. The children discussed the importance of knowing whether a time is taking place in the morning or the afternoon, recapped the concept of am and pm to support them when converting to the 24-hour clock and recognised that to convert pm times between 1 pm and 11:59 pm into 24-hour clock times, they add 12 hours to the time.
In Geography, the children were able to explain the positive and negative impact of food choices on the environment, state why certain foods grow in different biomes and describe how to make small changes to a diet to help fight climate change. The children learnt about the importance of trading responsibly and discussed some of the advantages and disadvantages of importing food. The children were able to explain what trading responsibly means, how responsible trading supports equality and how trading responsibly impacts farming communities. Furthermore, the children considered why we import food from other countries and listed the reasons why different foods are grown in different biomes.
Please find the home learning attached:
Ithaca Home Learning – 06.06.25
As we draw closer to the times table check, you can use this link to test your times tables knowledge:
https://www.timestables.co.uk/multiplication-tables-check/
Have a great weekend.
Miss Molyneux